Rally Raid Honda CB500X

Two weeks ago we had fun with Rad Brad Banisterâ€™s Rally Raid KTM 690. Last week we lathered up a lovely little bone-stock Honda CRF250L â€“ to which alert MO reader sgray44444 posted this thing in the Comments: a Rally Raid-modded Honda CB500X.

I did not know there was such a thing, but there certainly needed to be, as we at MO love Hondaâ€™s modern 471cc Thai-built Twin in all its forms: F, R and X. The CB500X looks a bit like an adventure bike, but it really isnâ€™t one. Maybe it can be?

Rally Raid builds products to transform all kinds of bikes into adventure ones when itâ€™s not participating in actual rallies. RR sells all sorts of individual pieces for the CB-X, but since the bike itself is only $ 6,499, why not do the easy thing and spring for the entire Level 3 Adventure kit! A mere $ 2,646.33 will have several boxes at your doorstep packed with a new four-way adjustable rear shock that gives your rear wheel two inches more travel and linkage to make it work, new adjustable fork internals with 1.2-in. more travel, a new billet top clamp, 19- and 17-inch wire-spoke wheels with aluminum rims, a new front fender and a longer sidestand.

At that point, youâ€™re looking at a sub-$ 10K adventure bike that weighs around 430 pounds gassed up (4.6 gallons), makes twice as much horsepower as the little CRF250L (45) while getting close to the same 60 mpg, and looks like it could go anywhere including to work every day.